There are several reasons that make ink-jet printing a popular way of recording images on various media surfaces, particularly paper. Some of these reasons include low printer noise, capability of high-speed recording, and multi-color recording. Additionally, these advantages can be obtained at a relatively low cost to consumers. However, though there have been great improvements in ink-jet printing, accompanying these improvements are increased consumer demands such as higher speeds, higher resolution, full color image formation, increased image durability, etc. As new ink-jet inks are developed, there are several traditional characteristics to consider when evaluating the ink in conjunction with printing media. Such characteristics include edge acuity and optical density of the image on the surface, dry time of the ink on the substrate, adhesion to the substrate, lack of deviation of ink droplets, presence of all dots, resistance of the ink after drying to water and other solvents, and long term storage stability. Though the above list of characteristics provides a worthy goal to achieve, there are difficulties associated with satisfying all of the above characteristics. Often, the inclusion of a media component to address one of the above attributes prevents another being met. Thus, most commercial media for use in ink-jet printers represent a compromise in an attempt to achieve adequate performance in all of the above listed attributes.
Ink-jet inks are either dye- or pigment-based. Dye-based ink-jet inks generally use water-soluble, mono-molecular colorants. As a result, such dye-based inks are usually not always water fast or stable to fade. Prints made from these inks tend to undergo color change over time, or fading, when exposed to ambient light and air. The media surface can play a key role in the fade properties and wet fastness of an image in that, for a given ink, the degree of fade and water fastness can be highly dependent on the chemistry of the media surface. Therefore, for optimum performance, many ink-jet inks often require that an appropriate media be selected in accordance with the application, thus reducing the choice of media.
In order for the ink-jet industry to effectively compete with silver halide photography and/or other applications, it is important that ink-jet prints must improve their image fade resistance. In other words, enhanced permanence of images has become important to the long-term success of photo-quality ink-jet ink technologies, as well as in other ink-jet ink technologies. In order to improve image permanence, it would be advantageous to reduce air fade that occurs due to the presence of air pollutants and other air constituents, such as ozone.